Method and system for dividing a computer processor register into sectors and storing frequently used values therein

Abstract

A method and system for dividing computer processor registers into sectors and storing frequently used data in the most significant unused sectors. The method includes sector renaming that is performed on each individual sector (i.e., on a sector-by-sector basis) rather than renaming an entire processor register. A register is divided into sectors such that the smallest accessible unit for an instruction in each register can be uniquely addressed and renamed. A register file is divided into sectors so that each process register can be uniquely addressed and renamed. The most significant sectors of the processor registers are used to hold pre-assigned values therein. Data previously loaded into processor register sectors is stored in the most significant sectors of the processor registers for possible future referencing and use. The method also includes establishing a sign-extend memory that includes at least one sign-extend bit in a sector status table.

What is claimed is:  
     
       1. A method for accessing frequently used values in an information processing system, said information processing system including a main memory and at least one processor coupled to said main memory, said at least one processor further including a plurality of processor registers, said method comprising: 
       dividing at least one of said processor registers into a plurality of individually addressable sectors;  
       storing at least one frequently used value in at least one of said sectors;  
       establishing a buffered value memory device for holding values stored in said sectors;  
       checking said buffered value memory device for a value requested by said at least one processor; and  
       retrieving said requested value from a sector containing said requested value;  
       wherein said buffered value memory device comprises a look-up table.  
     
     
       2. A method for accessing frequently used values in an information processing system, said information processing system including a main memory and at least one processor coupled to said main memory, said at least one processor further including a plurality of processor registers, said method comprising: 
       dividing at least one of said processor registers into a plurality of individually addressable sectors;  
       storing at least one frequently used value in at least one of said sectors  
       establishing a buffered value memory device for holding values stored in said sectors;  
       checking said buffered value memory device for a value requested by said at least one processor;  
       retrieving said requested value from a sector containing said requested value; and  
       retrieving said requested value from said main memory when it is determined that said requested value is absent from said buffered value memory device;  
       wherein said buffered value memory device comprises a look-up table.  
     
     
       3. A method for processing instructions by at least one processor, said at least one processor including a plurality of processor registers, at least one of said processor registers being divided into a plurality of separately addressable sectors, said method comprising: 
       decoding an instruction for processing;  
       checking a memory device to determine whether a requested value is present in one of said sectors;  
       accessing said requested value from one of said sectors containing the requested value; and  
       nullifying said instruction;  
       wherein said checking the memory device to determine whether a requested value is present is accomplished by using a frequently used value memory index to determine whether there is a match between an effective address associated with said instruction and the one of said sectors containing the requested value.  
     
     
       4. A processing unit comprising: 
       at least one register file comprising at least one register divided into a plurality of individually addressable sectors, wherein at least one predetermined sector stores common values frequently used by the processing unit;  
       a first memory device for storing sector-related indicia that is representative of predetermined characteristics of said sectors; and  
       a second memory device storing references to the common values frequently used by said processing unit, wherein the second memory device is checked for a value requested by the processing unit to determine whether the requested value is present in one of the sectors.  
     
     
       5. The processing unit of  claim 4 , wherein the first memory device is a sector status table. 
     
     
       6. The processing unit of  claim 4 , wherein the second memory device is a lookup table. 
     
     
       7. The processing unit of  claim 5 , wherein the second memory device is a lookup table.